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Amid sleet, flurries, and a biting wind from the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the performance," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a good reception from both sets of supporters. The attitude of the lads was superb."

Liam Rosenior holds this place dear to him, given some of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Championship club. This positive association was extended with a commanding performance from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity home support clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his XI. The match might and maybe ought to have been decided earlier than it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of spurning glorious opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

However, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a marvellous long-range strike, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to assume command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto netting three of them for a superb hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

Hull showed great spirit throughout, but the clearer chances consistently came to the visitors. The winger should have opened the scoring when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which came off the crossbar, and he began to celebrate thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, providing 3 key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball set up his teammate to score from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as the forward's set-piece went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from Delap laid on his teammate to tap into an empty net. Neto then completed his hat-trick as Delap once again delivered the decisive ball for the attacker to calmly slot by a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the opening thirty minutes had long since forgotten. Their focus must now return to securing a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of first-choice individuals with that aim in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong position in the Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive example of how we should play."

There was great effort to the final whistle, and they nearly got a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive step forward for their new manager at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

Cup History Look Promising

The result resulted in an ultimately straightforward night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to make the showpiece. Much still work in that respect, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.